Software plugins of data virtualization-based architecture

ABSTRACT

Techniques are disclosed relating to managing virtual data sources (VDSs), including creating and using VDSs. A virtual data source manager (VDSM) that is executing on a computer system may receive a VDS creation request to create a particular VDS. The VDS creation request may include information that is usable to identify a data origin of the particular VDS and an ingestion routine. The VDSM may use the ingestion routine to create the particular VDS that includes a bitmap index that is representative of data stored at the origin. In response to a data request corresponding to the origin, the particular VDS may be used to initiate a query to the particular VDS for data without accessing the origin. The VDSM may further maintain various software plugins that are executable to perform corresponding functions in relation to the VDSM and the VDSs managed by the VDSM.

BACKGROUND Technical Field

The present disclosure relates generally to data virtualization and,more specifically, to an architecture for managing virtual data sourcesderived from underlying data sources.

Description of the Related Art

While there has been a growth in big data in recent years, the promiseof improved decision making based on this data has largely beenunrealized. By one estimate, business decisions (whether made by humansor machines) are being made based on only one percent of extant data.Many business intelligence projects, big-data driven applications, andartificial intelligence and machine learning initiatives are failing inpart due to lack of access to data. It has been estimated that as muchas $400+ billion in potential business value is currently locked inso-called “dark” (i.e., inaccessible) data.

Additionally, there is frequently a large amount of copying of data inorganizations between an original data repository and the point at whicha decision is made. It is estimated that as much as 85% of all data byvolume is a copy that results from pre-processing, pre-joining, andaggregating disparate data into data formats and structures that aremore performant for analytical purposes than the source systems. Forexample, original data is often extracted in batch processes,transformed, and copies loaded (ETL) into analytical data lakes, OLAPcubes, and materialized views so that it can be combined and organizedto make it more easily analyzable. Additionally, original data isfrequently copied across multiple repositories located in differentgeographic regions to fulfill jurisdictional requirements. Sometimesdata is copied from edge locations containing sensors into centrallocations so that it can be combined with the relevant metadata neededto properly make decisions from the sensor readings. In other cases,this copying process is undertaken to move data closer to users andapplications in different geographic regions around the world in orderto make it more performant. Copying information from one traditionaldata repository to another can be very bandwidth intensive and a slowprocess as the information is usually not formatted (or compressed) in amanner that reduces the size of that information. This copying resultsnot only in increased security risk, but also in a high additional costin storing multiple copies or data and transporting it across networks.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is a block diagram illustrating example elements of a systemthat includes a virtual data source manager (VDSM) that is capable ofmanaging virtual data sources (VDSs), according to some embodiments.

FIG. 1B is a block diagram illustrating example elements of a hierarchyof VDSMs, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 1C is a block diagram illustrating example elements of a layout ofcomponents of the system on nodes of a compute cluster, according tosome embodiments.

FIG. 1D is a block diagram illustrating example topologies between datasources and VDSs, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 2A is a block diagram illustrating example elements of a VDS,according to some embodiments.

FIG. 2B is a block diagram illustrating example elements of VDSmetadata, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating example elements of a VDSM,according to some embodiments.

FIG. 4A is a block diagram illustrating example elements of an ingestplugin, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 4B is a block diagram illustrating example elements of aconsumption plugin, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 4C is a block diagram illustrating example elements of an at-restplugin, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 5A is a block diagram illustrating an example implementationinvolving a VDSM and VDSs, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 5B is a block diagram illustrating another example implementationinvolving a VDSM and VDSs, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating an example method relating tocreating a VDS, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram illustrating an example method relating tousing a VDS to process a data request, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram illustrating an example method relating tocreating a VDS, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram illustrating an example method relating to aVDS processing a data request, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 10 is a flow diagram illustrating an example method relating tocreating a VDS in association with software plugins, according to someembodiments.

FIG. 11 is a flow diagram illustrating an example method relating tomanaging a VDS using software plugins, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram illustrating an example computer system,according to some embodiments.

This disclosure includes references to “one embodiment” or “anembodiment.” The appearances of the phrases “in one embodiment” or “inan embodiment” do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment.Particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined inany suitable manner consistent with this disclosure.

Within this disclosure, different entities (which may variously bereferred to as “units,” “circuits,” other components, etc.) may bedescribed or claimed as “configured” to perform one or more tasks oroperations. This formulation—[entity] configured to [perform one or moretasks]—is used herein to refer to structure (i.e., something physical,such as an electronic circuit). More specifically, this formulation isused to indicate that this structure is arranged to perform the one ormore tasks during operation. A structure can be said to be “configuredto” perform some task even if the structure is not currently beingoperated. A “network interface configured to communicate over a network”is intended to cover, for example, an integrated circuit that hascircuitry that performs this function during operation, even if theintegrated circuit in question is not currently being used (e.g., apower supply is not connected to it). Thus, an entity described orrecited as “configured to” perform some task refers to somethingphysical, such as a device, circuit, memory storing program instructionsexecutable to implement the task, etc. This phrase is not used herein torefer to something intangible. Thus, the “configured to” construct isnot used herein to refer to a software entity such as an applicationprogramming interface (API).

The term “configured to” is not intended to mean “configurable to.” Anunprogrammed FPGA, for example, would not be considered to be“configured to” perform some specific function, although it may be“configurable to” perform that function and may be “configured to”perform the function after programming.

Reciting in the appended claims that a structure is “configured to”perform one or more tasks is expressly intended not to invoke 35 U.S.C.§ 112(f) for that claim element. Accordingly, none of the claims in thisapplication as filed are intended to be interpreted as havingmeans-plus-function elements. Should Applicant wish to invoke Section112(f) during prosecution, it will recite claim elements using the“means for” [performing a function] construct.

As used herein, the terms “first,” “second,” etc. are used as labels fornouns that they precede, and do not imply any type of ordering (e.g.,spatial, temporal, logical, etc.) unless specifically stated. Forexample, in a processor having eight processing cores, the terms “first”and “second” processing cores can be used to refer to any two of theeight processing cores. In other words, the first and second processingcores are not limited to processing cores 0 and 1, for example.

As used herein, the term “based on” is used to describe one or morefactors that affect a determination. This term does not foreclose thepossibility that additional factors may affect a determination. That is,a determination may be solely based on specified factors or based on thespecified factors as well as other, unspecified factors. Consider thephrase “determine A based on B.” This phrase specifies that B is afactor is used to determine A or that affects the determination of A.This phrase does not foreclose that the determination of A may also bebased on some other factor, such as C. This phrase is also intended tocover an embodiment in which A is determined based solely on B. As usedherein, the phrase “based on” is thus synonymous with the phrase “basedat least in part on.”

As used herein, a “module” refers to software and/or hardware that isoperable to perform a specified set of operations. A module may refer toa set of software instructions that are executable by a computer systemto perform the set of operations. A module may also refer to hardwarethat is configured to perform the set of operations. A hardware modulemay constitute general-purpose hardware as well as a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium that stores program instructions, orspecialized hardware such as a customized ASIC. Accordingly, a modulethat is described as being “executable” to perform operations refers toa software module, while a module that is described as being“configured” to perform operations refers to a hardware module. A modulethat is described as operable to perform operations refers to both asoftware and a hardware module.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

One approach for reducing information size and the amount of time neededto process certain requests for information is to store that informationin a different format than traditional database tables. Pilosa® includesan open-source project that provides software for storing a datarepository using a set of bitmap indexes. Bitmap indexes can be spaceefficient and allow for quick bitwise operations against the underlyinginformation. As a result, various cases, such as the one posed above,may take milliseconds to implement instead of seconds, minutes, hours,or sometimes days, significantly speeding up the operation of thesystem. Such systems are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos.9,280,780; 9,489,410; and 9,607,104.

The present disclosure describes various techniques for implementing aninfrastructure that allows data representations such as bitmap indexesto be scaled in order to manage vast amounts of data, as well as toperform a wider variety of functionality. In various embodiments, such asystem includes a virtual data source manager (VDSM) that managesvirtual data sources (VDSs) that include data representations, such asbitmap indexes, stored in corresponding underlying, or original, datasources. For example, a VDS may include a bitmap index that isrepresentative of data stored in a relational database. The VDS mayfurther directly include or leverage external translation key metadatathat allows for the format of the bitmap index to be interpreted so thatdata can be extracted from the bitmap index.

A VDS may be created by a VDSM in response to receiving a request via anapplication programming interface (API) of the VDSM. In someembodiments, the VDSM provides a user interface that enables a user suchas a system administrator to select from various options when creating,copying, importing, or linking a VDS. For example, the user might selectan original data source for the VDS from a list of data sources. Theuser interface may then send a request to create a VDS via the VDSM'sAPI. In some embodiments, the request to create the VDS includesinformation that identifies a corresponding original data source and aconfiguration for ingesting data from that data source into the datastructure (e.g., a bitmap index) of the VDS. Based on that information,the VDSM may instantiate an ingestion plugin that ingests data from theoriginal data source into a format that can be stored in the datastructure of the VDS.

Once the VDS has been created, the VDSM may begin processing datarequests against the VDS instead of the underlying data source—datarequests may be made and processed as the VDS is being populated withdata. The data requests may be received via the API and may specify SQLqueries (or other types of queries) to be executed. In some embodiments,the VDSM translates and optimizes queries directly or through its queryplanner into a query language understood by VDSs and then routes thosetranslated queries to the appropriate VDS(s). The VDSM may furthermaintain metadata about the data that is stored at its VDSs so that theVDSM can determine which VDSs should receive a query being routed by theVDSM.

In some embodiments, the VDSM maintains a software plugin repositorythat includes various executable software routines that may operate ondata moving into a VDS (ingest data), data moving out of a VDS (outgestdata), and data at rest in VDS. When a VDS is being created, the VDS maybe associated with a set of software plugins that the VDSM may use tomanage that VDS. As an example, if a VDS is being created based on anOracle® database (an original data source), then the VDSM mayinstantiate an ingestion plugin that is designed for ingesting data fromOracle® databases. Software plugins may also be added/associated to aVDS during its lifecycle.

The various components (e.g., VDSs, software plugins, etc.) that aremanaged by the VDSM may be instantiated using resources managed by theVDSM, in various embodiments. Consider an example in which the VDSMmanages a pool of compute nodes. The VDSM may instantiate an API serveron one of the compute nodes, a web server on another compute node, andthree VDSs on multiple compute nodes. The VDSM may also scale up anddown the resources that are assigned to a component based on variouscriteria, such as processing demand. For example, if the VDSM receives ahigh volume of requests for data in a certain VDS, then the VDSM maydistribute that VDS across additional compute nodes.

The VDSM may implement various other functionality to facilitate themanagement of VDSs. For example, in various embodiments, the VDSMimplements access control directly or through a software plugin torestrict who/what can interact with the VDSs. In addition to managingVDSs, the VDSM may manage and link to other VDSMs—this results inhierarchies of VDSMs. For example, an upstream VDSM may manage multipledownstream VDSMs that are located in different data centers. One ofthose downstream VDSMs may manage VDSs that serve as regionally locatedVDSs that are managed by another one of those downstream VDSMs.Accordingly, the upstream VDSM may ensure that all or a selection of thedata is replicated between the two downstream VDSMs. (Exemplaryselective data sharing techniques are described, for example, in U.S.Publication No.: 2018/0034824.) VDSMs may be linked with other VDSMsbelonging to a single company and its subsidiaries or interconnected toVDSMs that belong to other companies.

These techniques may be advantageous as they allow for data structures,such as bitmap indexes, that “virtualize” data from an underlying datasource to be managed and exploited by other software routines. Asmentioned, bitmap indexes are usable to process certain data requests ina shorter amount of time than processing those data requests against atraditional database. But those bitmap indexes are ineffectual withoutan infrastructure to create, manage, and use those bitmap indexes,especially on a reasonably large scale. The techniques of the presentdisclosure provide that infrastructure with the use of VDSs and VDSMsthat manage those VDSs so that bitmap indexes (or similar datastructures) can be readily built on underlying data sources and used tooperate on the represented data. By using VDSMs and VDSs, data can beaccessed and operated on from different locations without having tocreate a copy of the underlying data at the different locations. As aresult, this data abstraction-based approach (or alternatively, datarepresentation-based approach) can yield up to 100× reduction inhardware footprint and data movement. This approach simplifies,accelerates, and improves control over data both within an organizationand outside the organization if it is sharing the data externally withpartners and vendors. The various topologies of VDSMs and VDSs enableusers to access data wherever they need to access it, on premises, inthe cloud, or on the edge, regardless of where the original dataresides. This greatly reduces data migration costs and complexity, alongwith the risks typically associated with approaches that involve copying(lifting and shifting) data to where the user needs it.

The techniques of the present disclosure further overcome variousdeficiencies of other approaches for preparing, accessing, and analyzingdata, such as a query federation approach, a data aggregation approach,and a brute force approach. In the query federation approach, afederated database system acts as a type of meta-database managementsystem (Meta-DBMS) that provides a unified access interface to multiple,independent database systems. Each of the independent database systemscan implement a different type of database (e.g., SQL database, NoSQLdatabase, etc.) with different query languages. When a request for datais received, the federated database system obtains data from theindependent database systems as the federated databases of the federatedsystem do not store any actual data from those independent databasesystems. The performance of the federated database system is dependenton the speed of each of the independent database systems, thus theoverall performance of the composition is only as fast as the slowestsystem. The techniques of the present disclosure, however, provide for asystem that can maintain data representations of data stored atdifferent underlying databases and can obtain requested data from thedata representations without having to request the data from thedifferent underlying databases. The data representations cancollectively make use of the same data format, which can allow for moreefficient access and analysis of the data. As such, the “datavirtualization” approach described by the present disclosure is notdependent on the speed of the underlying databases unlike in the queryfederation approach.

In the data aggregation approach, data is physically merged from severalindependent databases into one central database. This approach usuallyinvolves integrations (ETL), batch processes, the pre-computation ofderivative results, multiple copies of the original data, and a movementof all the data (being aggregated) across a computer network. Becausethe central database is normally very large in volume, query performanceis a significant issue and requires further caching or loading of datainto multidimensional datasets (OLAP cubes) to facilitate analysis. Thetechniques of the present disclosure, however, provide for a system thatcan manage, at a first computer network, data representations of datathat is stored at an underlying database without having to move a copyof that data from a second computer network to the first computernetwork. Furthermore, these data representations can maintain data in aformat that reduces the size of that data relative to the correspondingdata that is stored at the underlying database. As a result, largeamounts of data do not have to be moved across a computer network andthe smaller size of the data representations allows for more efficientquery performance.

Brute force approaches are usually implemented either by deployingcomplex data and analytical infrastructure or by applying specialized,high-performance hardware to process large volumes of computationallyintensive data. The deployment of complex data and analyticalinfrastructures usually involves significant upfront and ongoing laborfrom data engineering and data operations teams. Additionally, theunderlying techniques for preparing data for analysis are no differentthan the techniques that are used in the data aggregation and queryfederation approaches, and thus suffer from the same drawbacks.

Turning now to FIG. 1A, a block diagram of an example system 100 isshown. System 100 includes a set of components that may be implementedvia hardware or a combination of hardware and software routines. In theillustrated embodiment, system 100 includes original data sources110A-Z, virtual data sources (VDSs) 120A-C, and a virtual data sourcemanager (VDSM) 130. In some embodiments, system 100 may be implementeddifferently than shown. As shown in FIG. 1B for example, system 100 mayinclude a hierarchy of VDSMs 130 in which an upstream VDSM 130 controlsa set of downstream VDSMs 130. FIG. 1D illustrates various possibletopologies by which original data source(s) 110 are connected to VDS(s)120.

Data sources 110, in various embodiments, are entities that serve assources of data that are accessible by other entities. In some cases, adata source 110 may be a database comprising a collection of informationthat is structured and organized in a manner that allows for access,storage, and manipulation of that information. For example, a datasource 110 may be a non-relational database (e.g., MongoDB®), arelational database (e.g., an Oracle® database), or an applicationprogramming interface (e.g., Salesforce.com®) that stores information ona single or multiple storage devices that are connected together on anetwork. That data source 110 may be available to an application serverthat accesses data from that data source 110 in order to generatecontent that may be presented to a user. In some cases, a data source110 may be a system that collects information about an environmentand/or from another system. For example, a data source 110 may be anembedded system within a cell tower that collects information about theoperation of that cell tower (e.g., information about whether the celltower is operating correctly). As another example, a data source 110 maybe a system within a smartwatch that collects information about a user'shealth and location. In some cases, a data source 110 may be astream/pipeline to which messages are published and consumed as part ofa stream-processing platform. For example, a data source 110 may be aKafka® topic that is part of a Kafka® cluster.

Virtual data sources (VDSs) 120 stand in contrast to original datasources 110. A “virtual data source,” as used herein, refers to asoftware construct that includes a representation of data stored in oneor more (original) data sources, as well as metadata that identifies theVDS to a higher-level software manager entity. These components arediscussed further in the context of FIG. 2A below, which illustratesdata representation 210, VDS API 222, and VDS metadata 230. One exampleof the higher-level software entity that manages a VDS 120 is VDSM 130.

Various topologies between original data sources 110 and VDSs 120 arecontemplated. In FIG. 1A, VDS 120A may be a representation of originaldata source 110A that is created directly from source 110A. In otherembodiments, such as those shown below in FIG. 1D, a VDS 120 may beconnected to original data source 110 via one or more intermediate VDSs120. Also, a VDS 120 may be created based on multiple original datasources 110. Still further, one VDS 120 may be created as a subset ofdata from another VDS 120. For example, a first VDS 120 might correspondto worldwide business data, while a second VDS 120 might be derived fromthe first VDS 120 to include only North American business data.

As an example of the representation of data stored in another datastructure, VDS 120A may include a bitmap index (that is representativeof data stored in a relational database) and translation key metadatathat indicates how information is organized in the bitmap index.(Examples of bitmap index implementations are discussed in greaterdetail in U.S. Publication No. US 2015/0213463 A1, which is incorporatedby reference herein in its entirety). The translation key metadata maybe usable to interpret the bitmap index so that requested data can beaccessed and operated on. Other data representations are contemplated.For example, a VDS 120 may include other new and unique data formats orexisting data formats, such as key-value stores (e.g., Redis® orDynamoDB®) or time-series databases (e.g., Influx DB®).

In various embodiments, a VDS 120 also includes software routines thatare executable to maintain and operate on its data representation (e.g.,a bitmap index), including processing queries against that datarepresentation. For example, VDSM 130 may send a request to VDS 120A fordata in its data representation. That request may include a query thatis processed by the software routines of VDS 120A to return a responsethat includes the requested data. As discussed in more detail withrespect to FIG. 2A, the software routines of a VDS 120 implement an APIthat allows for entities, such as VDSM 130, to send requests down tothat VDS 120. In various embodiments, this API enables an ingestionroutine (which may be initiated by VDSM 130) to push ingested data intothe data representation of a VDS 120.

A VDS 120 may include additional metadata to facilitate the flow of datainto and out of the VDS 120. This metadata may include, for example,source information that identifies an underlying data source 110 (oranother VDS 120) and authentication credentials for enabling access todata from that data source 110 so that it can be ingested into the datarepresentation of the corresponding VDS 120. Examples of metadata thatcan be included in a VDS are discussed in greater detail with respect toFIG. 2B.

Virtual data source manager (VDSM) 130, in various embodiments, is a setof software routines executable to manage one or more VDSs 120. ManagingVDSs 120 may include, for example, creating the VDSs 120, ensuring thatthe data stored in those VDSs 120 is up to date, requesting data fromthose VDSs 120, instantiating software routines (plugins) that operateon data of those VDSs 120, and controlling access to those VDSs 120. Invarious embodiments, VDSM 130 includes metadata about the VDSs 120 thatit manages that enables VDSM 130 to perform those enumerate functions.This metadata is discussed in greater detail with respect to FIG. 3.

As shown, VDSM 130 manages three VDSs 120A-C storing data that isrepresentative of data stored in underlying data sources 110. Initially,VDSM 130 may start with creating one of the VDSs 120 (e.g., VDS 120A)and then may add subsequent VDSs 120 (e.g., VDS 120B and 120C) over timeto its configuration, arriving at the illustrated embodiment. In somecases, when adding a VDS 120 to its configuration, VDSM 130 may createthat VDS 120. This may involve supplementing information (e.g., alocation corresponding to an underlying data source 110) provided by auser or agent with information (e.g., a transfer protocol) that isobtained by communicating with the corresponding underlying data source110. (This is illustrated by the dotted line connecting VDSM 130 withdata sources 110). VDSM 130 may then instantiate an ingestion routinethat ingests data from the corresponding underlying data source 110 intothe VDS 120. In some cases, when adding a VDS 120 to it configuration,VDSM 130 may load a previously created VDS 120 that had been temporallystored.

In some cases, VDSs 120A-C may be created based on different datasources 110. For example, VDS 120A may be created based on a relationaldatabase operated by a first company while VDS 120B is created based ona non-relational database operated by a second, different company. Insome cases, some of VDSs 120A-C may be created based on the same datasource 110 but correspond to different data partitions of that datasource 110. For example, VDS 120A may correspond to data of a firsttenant while VDS 120B corresponds to data of a second tenant that isassociated with the same database.

After adding a VDS 120 to its configuration, VDSM 130 may start issuingrequests for data against that VDS 120 instead of the corresponding datasource 110. As a result, the VDS 120 may act as a “virtual” layerbetween VDSM 130 and the corresponding data source 110 that virtualizesthe data from that data source 110. Virtualizing data from the datasource 110 may involve the VDS 120 storing data in a different format(e.g., in a bitmap-based format instead of a table-based format) thatstill conveys the same information as the data that is stored in theunderlying data source 110. By using the different format, VDSM 130 maybe able to process certain requests for information against its VDSs 120instead of the underlying data sources 110.

Turning now to FIG. 1B, a block diagram of a hierarchy of VDSMs 130within system 100 is shown. In the illustrated embodiment, system 100includes a “primary” VDSM 130A, “secondary” VDSMs 130B-D, and VDSs120A-K. As further depicted, VDSM 130B manages VDSs 120A-C, VDSM 130Cmanages VDS 120D, and VDSM 130D manages VDSs 120E-K. In someembodiments, system 100 may be implemented differently than shown—e.g.,system 100 may not include a hierarchy of VDSMs 130 as shown in FIG. 1A.

As illustrated, a VDSM 130 can manage one or more VDSMs 130. As usedherein, the term “primary VDSM” refers to the VDSM 130 that resides atthe top of a hierarchy of VDSMs 130, the term “secondary VDSM” refers toa VDSM 130 that resides in the next level down in that hierarchy, andthe term “tertiary VDSM” refers to a VDSM 130 that resides in the yetnext level down. While not shown, in some embodiments, a VDSM 130 maymanage a combination of VDSs 120 and VDSMs 130 that reside in the nextlevel down from that VDSM 130.

A VDSM 130 may manage multiple VDSMs 130 for various reasons. In somecases, a company may wish to have data replicated across multiplelocations to ensure high availability of that data or to enable dataaccess at an edge location. Accordingly, a secondary VDSM 130 may beplaced at each location that manages a set of VDSs 120 that store datarepresenting a copy of the data being partially or fully replicated. Theprimary VDSM 130 may communicate with those secondary VDSMs 130 tofacilitate the exchange of data between them in order to ensure thatdata is replicated between the different locations. In some cases, acompany may wish to collect particular information from multiple devices(e.g., Internet of Things devices) that are scattered across ageographic region. As such, a secondary VDSM 130 may be instantiated oneach device and manage a set of VDSs 120 that are created based on datacollected by components of that device. The secondary VDSMs 130 mayfurther instantiate software plugins that perform an analysis on thedata using the VDSs 120. A result of the analysis may be pushed up tothe primary VDSM 130 that stores the result using VDSs 120 managed bythe VDSM 130—the primary VDSM 130 may serve as a central location forcollecting results to present to a user.

Turning now to FIG. 1C, a block diagram of an example layout ofcomponents of system 100 on nodes 145 is shown. In the illustratedembodiments, system 100 includes a node 145A and a compute cluster 140having nodes 145B-D. As further illustrated, node 145A includes a VDSM130, node 145B includes VDS 120A, node 145C includes VDS 120A and 120B,and node 145D includes VDSs 120A-C. In some embodiments, system 100 maybe implemented differently than shown. For example, VDSM 130 mightexecute on a node 145 within compute cluster 140.

Compute cluster 140, in various embodiments, is a pool of resourcesmanaged and used by VDSM 130—this pool of resources may includeresources that are managed by the resource manager discussed in moredetail with respect to FIG. 3. Compute cluster 140 may be used toimplement services of VDSM 130 (e.g., an API server) and a VDSenvironment having one or more VDSs 120. As shown, compute clusterincludes nodes 145B-D. In various embodiments, a node 145 corresponds toa set of hardware processors, physical storage, network storage, andmemory that is available to VDSM 130 for executing software routines andstoring data. In some embodiments, a node 145 can be a virtualmachine—this might provide VDSM 130 with less granular control thanmanaging a set of hardware processors, storage, and memory. Theresources of compute cluster 140 may correspond to resources that aremanaged by a different entity than the entity operating VDSM 130. Forexample, compute cluster 140 may correspond to servers and storageprovided by AWS while VDSM 130 is operated by another party. In someembodiments, VDSM 130 may scale up and down the resources that areincluded in compute cluster 140.

As explained, VDSM 130 may execute software routines (e.g., API servers,VDSs 120, etc.) using the resources of compute cluster 140. In variousembodiments, a portion or all of a VDS 120 can be compiled into anexecutable binary that can be executed on one or more nodes 145 totogether implement the VDS 120. Those binaries may be operable tocommunicate with each other to implement functionalities of that VDS120, such as a join query operation. As shown for example, VDS 120Aexecutes on three nodes 145 while VDS 120C executes on only one node 145(i.e., node 145D). When a VDS 120 is distributed across multiple nodes145, the data of that VDS 120 may be partitioned intosegments/slices/shards/partitions that are distributed across thosenodes 145. Consider an example in which VDS 120C includes a bitmap indexhaving 3000 columns, each of which may correspond to a user. VDS 120Cmight be partitioned such that node 145B manages the data of columns1-1000, node 145C manages the data of columns 1001-2000, and node 145Dmanages the data of columns 2001-3000. In some embodiments, the metadatathat is associated with a VDS 120 may be replicated across multiplenodes 145 such that each node 145 stores a copy of that metadata. Forexample, VDS 120C may include translation metadata that allows for thebit strings of its bitmap index to be interpreted so that data can beaccessed and operated on. This translation metadata can be replicated tonodes 145B-D so that they all have their own respective copy.

Turning now to FIG. 1D, a block diagram of example topologies betweenoriginal data sources 110 and VDSs 120 are shown. In the illustratedembodiment, topology 150A includes a VDS 120 that is created directlyfrom an original data source 110. In this case, that original datasource 110 is an “origin” of data for that VDS 120—the data source thatis directly used to create the VDS. In some cases, the origin of a VDS120 is an “original” data source 110, as in topology 150A, yet in othercases, the origin of a VDS 120 may be a “derived” data source 110, suchas another VDS (e.g., belonging to a research partner) that is derivedfrom an original data source 110, as in topology 150B. A VDS 120 mayalso have more than one origin in some cases.

Topology 150B, for example, includes a VDS 120B that is connected to anoriginal data source 110 via an intermediate VDS 120A. Within thecontext of topology 150B, while VDS 120B is connected to data source110, VDS 120A is the origin of data for VDS 120B, not data source 110.That is, VDS 120B obtains its data directly from VDS 120A and not datasource 110 and thus VDS 120A is the origin of data. In some cases, VDS120B may be a copy of VDS 120A—e.g., VDS 120A might be a UnitedStates-based VDS 120 while VDS 120B is a European counterpart. Asfurther shown, topology 150C includes two VDSs 120B and 120C that areconnected to an original data source 110 via the same intermediate VDS120A. For example, VDS 120A might include business data for the entireUnited States while VDS 120B might include the business data forCalifornia and VDS 120C includes the business data for Texas. As furthershown in the illustrated embodiment, topology 150D includes a VDS 120Cthat is connected to two original data sources 110A and 110B via tworespective VDSs 120A and 120B that are the origins of data for VDS 120C.Other topologies 150 are contemplated. As an example, a topology 150 mayinclude a series of VDSs 120 (e.g., eight VDSs 120) in which a given VDS120 of the series is an origin of data for the next VDS 120 in thatseries. In short, the various topologies indicated in FIG. 1D, which areby no means exhaustive, illustrate how a VDS can be connected to anoriginal data source in various ways—either directly (no intermediateVDSs) or indirectly (via one or more intermediate VDSs).

Turning now to FIG. 2A, a block diagram of an example VDS 120 is shown.In the illustrated embodiment, VDS 120 includes data representation 210,a VDS engine 220, and VDS metadata 230. As shown, data representation210 includes translation metadata 215, and VDS engine 220 includes a VDSAPI 222 and plugins 224. In some embodiments, VDS 120 may be implementeddifferently than shown. For example, VDS 120 may not include plugins224.

Data representation 210, in various embodiments, is a data structurethat stores data that is representative of data stored at one or moreoriginal data sources 110. Data representation 210 may store its data ina different format than the data stored at the original data sources110. For example, data representation 210 may be a bitmap indexcomprising multiple rows of bit strings. The bits within a given row maybe set based on data in the original data sources 110. Consider anexample in which an original data source 110 includes a table of userprofiles, each of which identifies the gender of its corresponding user.Data representation 210 may include a bitmap index of users, where thebitmap index includes at least two rows: a bit string corresponding tothe gender “male” and a bit string corresponds to the gender “female.”Each column of the bitmap index may correspond to a user. Consequently,if a user is a female, then the corresponding bit of the “male” bitstring is set to “0” and the bit of the “female” bit string is set to“1.” While the user profile table of the original data source 110 maystore a character string of “female” and the user bitmap index mayinclude a set bit, they both convey the same information (i.e., thegender of the user), but in different data formats. In this manner, datarepresentation 210 may store data that is representative of data storedat the original data source 110.

Translation metadata 215, in various embodiments, includes informationthat enables the data of data representation 210 to be interpreted.Translation metadata 215 may include, for example, value keys, recordkeys, and record attributes. Continuing with the example about the twobit strings that correspond to the two genders. The bitmap index ofusers may include thousands of bit strings (which include the two bitstrings for gender) that are grouped together to form a matrix ofcolumns and rows. Translation metadata 215 may indicate the meaning ofeach bit string that makes up the bitmap index of users. For example,translation metadata 215 may include a value key “male” that is linkedto the bit string corresponding to whether a user is a male and a valuekey “income greater than 10k” that is linked to a bit stringcorresponding to whether a user's income exceeds $10,000. In variousembodiments, translation metadata 215 categorizes record keys intogroups. For example, those two previously mentioned value keys may begrouped under “demographic data.” Record keys may define a mappingbetween bit positions of a bit string and a corresponding record. Forexample, a record key may indicate that the first bit of a bit string(or the first bit of a portion or all bit strings in the bitmap index)corresponds to user “A”. Record attributes may specify informationassociated with a record (column) that is not represented by a bitstring. For example, email addresses are often unique values and as aresult, it might not be desirable to represent them using a bit string;however, it may still be desirable to associate a record with an emailaddress. As such, a record attribute may specify an email address for arecord, such as the record corresponding to user A.

As mentioned, translation metadata 215 may be replicated across eachnode 145 that is implementing VDS 120. For example, as depicted in FIG.1C, VDS 120A is distributed among nodes 145B-D. This distribution may besuch that each node 145 manages a slice/segment of data representation210 of VDS 120A (e.g., each node 145 may manage a different set ofcolumns of a bitmap index). In some embodiments, a node 145 maintains,for its portion of a distributed VDS 120, only the translation metadata215 that is relevant to its slice. In various embodiments, however, anode 145 maintains a complete copy of the translation metadata 215 (or aportion thereof—e.g., only the value keys may be copied) that pertainsto the entirety of data representation 210.

As updates are made to the data of data representation 210 (e.g., basedon changes to data at the origin, such as an underlying data source 110or another VDS 120), VDS engine 220 may modify translation metadata 215based on those updates. For example, if a new bit string is added todata representation 210 (in the case where it is a bitmap index), avalue key may be added to translation metadata 215 to indicate themeaning of the new bit string (e.g., “users with a dog”). The changesthat are made to translation metadata 215 may be propagated to each node145 that implements the corresponding VDS 120.

VDS engine 220, in various embodiments, includes the executable softwareroutines of VDS 120 that are capable of facilitating access andmanipulation of data representation 210 and VDS metadata 230. VDS engine220 may further maintain data representation 210 and VDS metadata 230 byensuring that changes to data at the origin for VDS 120 (e.g., anoriginal data sources 110) are reflected in index 210 and metadata 230.As illustrated, for example, VDS engine 220 includes VDS API 222 andplugins 224.

VDS API 222, in various embodiments, is an interface provided by VDSengine 220 to allow for entities (e.g., VDSM 130) that are outside ofVDS 120 to access and manipulate the components within VDS 120. Invarious embodiments, VDS API 222 includes a set of query functions thatare invokable to query data representation 210 for data. Consequently, adata request received by VDSM 130 for particular data may be propagateddown to the appropriate VDSs 120 via calls to the query functions of VDSAPI 222. In various cases, VDSM 130 may invoke the query functions ofone of the VDSs 120 that is selected by VDSM 130. The selected VDS 120may then propagate queries from VDSM 130 to the remaining VDSs 120 ofcompute cluster 140 via their VDS APIs 222.

Plugins 224, in various embodiments, are sets of software routines thatare executable to perform a specified set of operations in relation toVDS(s) 120 and/or VDSM(s) 130. Plugins 224 may generally fall within oneof three types of categorizations (although, there are others): ingestplugins 224 that operate on data moving into VDS 120, consumptionplugins 224 that operate on data moving out of VDS 120, and at-restplugins 224 that operate on data at rest within VDS 120. Ingest plugins224, consumption plugins 224 (alternatively, “outgest” plugins), andat-rest plugins 224 are discussed in greater detail with respect toFIGS. 4A, 4B, and 4C. Other types of plugins 224 can include monitoringplugins 224 that may collect metrics about the operation of a VDS 120and security plugins 224 that may enforce security policies, executeaccess control directives, encrypt data, and/or generate secureconnections between a VDS 120 and another component (e.g., another VDS120).

In some embodiments, VDS 120 spawns plugins 224 in response to requestsreceived via its VDS API 222 or based on a defined trigger event (e.g.,detecting a change to particular data in data representation 210). Invarious embodiments, VDS 120 relies on VDSM 130 to spawn plugins 224 andinstead stores metadata about the particular plugins 224 associated withVDS 120. In some embodiments, VDS 120 may store and spawn a subset ofthe plugins 224 associated with it while VDSM 130 may spawn otherplugins 224 that are associated with VDS 120.

VDS metadata 230, in various embodiments, includes information that canbe used to facilitate the movement of data into and out of VDS 120. Forexample, VDS metadata 230 may specify a location of an origin of datafor VDS 120 (e.g., a data source 110), parameters for accessing datafrom that location, and/or a location at which to store data ingestedfrom the origin. Examples of the different types of information that maybe included in VDS metadata 230 are discussed in greater detail withrespect to FIG. 2B. VDS metadata 230, in various embodiments, isaccessible to entities outside of VDS 120. For example, an ingestionplugin 224 (which may be spawned by VDSM 130) may access or be providedVDS metadata 230 so that it can connect with an underlying data source110 and begin ingesting data into data representation 210.

Turning now to FIG. 2B, a block diagram of example VDS metadata 230 isshown. In the illustrated embodiment, VDS metadata 230 includes VDSinformation 231, source information 232, storage information 233, accessinformation 234, fingerprint information 235, filter information 236,and transformation information 237. In some embodiments, VDS metadata230 may be implemented differently than shown. For example, VDS metadata230 may not include fingerprint information 235.

VDS information 231, in various embodiments, includes informationdescribing one or more general properties pertaining to a VDS 120. VDSinformation 231 may specify a unique identifier that allows for thecorresponding VDS 120 to be directly referenced separately from otherVDSs 120. This unique identifier, in some embodiments, is assigned byVDSM 130 to a VDS 120 upon creation of the VDS 120. If a VDS 120 has adata source that is another VDS 120 (e.g., topology 150B in FIG. 1D),then those two VDSs 120 may be assigned different identifiers. VDSinformation 231 may specify a version associated with the correspondingVDS 120, a human-readable name separate from the unique identifier,and/or a text description of the VDS 120, which may be provided by auser.

Source information 232, in various embodiments, includes informationdescribing the one or more origins (e.g., underlying data sources 110)whose data is represented by a data representation 210 of a VDS 120. Asmentioned, when a user (e.g., an administrator) wishes to create a VDS120, that user may identify, e.g., one or more underlying data sources110 to be used to create the VDS 120—those underlying data sources 110may be identified by another entity, such as a set of files stored in adatabase accessible to VDSM 130. VDSM 130 may then store informationthat it obtains about the underlying data sources 110 as sourceinformation 232 in the VDS 120 being created. In various embodiments,source information 232 enables VDSM 130 or another component (e.g., aplugin 224) to access data from those underlying data sources 110 sothat the data can be operated in some manner. As discussed in FIG. 4Afor example, an ingest plugin may use source information 232 to accessthe origin(s) of data for VDS 120 (e.g., underlying data sources 110 orVDSs 120) so that it can ingest data from those origins to create and/ormaintain a data representation 210.

In some cases, source information 232 may specify an underlying datasource 110 that corresponds to a storage service provided by a cloudplatform. For example, source information 232 may specify one or moreAmazon® S3 buckets that store files having data objects that can beparsed. Source information 232 may further specify authorizationcredentials that allow for access to that storage service. Continuingwith the previous example, that source information 232 may specify anAmazon Web Service® (AWS) access identifier and access secret. Sourceinformation 232 may also specify a data format (e.g., JSON, CSV, etc.)of the data that is being accessed so that it can be correctly parsed.

In some cases, source information 232 may specify an underlying datasource 110 that corresponds to a stream-processing platform in whichmessages are published to and consumed from streams (or alternatively,“pipelines”). For example, source information 232 may specify a hostaddress of a Kafka® cluster, an identifier of a Kafka® topic (apipeline), and/or a schema registry address. Source information 232 mayspecify a data format (e.g., JSON, Avro, etc.) of the data objectsincluded in messages of a pipeline so that they can be correctly parsed.

In some cases, source information 232 may specify an origin thatcorresponds to a VDS 120—that is, one VDS 120 is the source of data foranother VDS 120. When the two VDSs 120 are managed by the same VDSM 130,source information 232 may specify an identifier of the VDS 120 that isbeing used as an origin of data. If the source VDS 120 is managed byanother VDSM 130, then source information 232 might specify, in additionto an identifier of the source VDS 120, an endpoint address for thatother VDSM 130.

Other types of underlying data sources 110 than those discussed abovemay be specified by source information 232. For example, sourceinformation 232 may specify a local relational, non-relational database,or a remote API whose data can be ingested. In some embodiments, a VDS120 can have multiple underlying data sources 110 that are of the sameor different types. For example, a VDS 120 might be created based on anAmazon® S3 bucket and another VDS 120 or based on three VDSs 120.

Storage information 233, in various embodiments, includes informationdescribing one or more locations where data of data representation 210is stored. In various cases, storage information 233 may specify thatthe data of index 210 resides locally on compute cluster 140 or a datastore managed by VDSM 130. In some cases, storage information 233 mayspecify a location that corresponds to a cloud storage service, such asAWS S3. The corresponding VDS 120 may not be actively loaded/running incompute cluster 140, but rather offloaded at the cloud storage serviceuntil requested—data may be loaded into compute cluster 140 to processcertain requests and then offloaded back to the cloud storage service.In some cases, storage information 233 may specify a network-attachedstorage (NAS) where a VDS 120 can be offloaded while not being used andthen reloaded at another time, similar to the cloud storage serviceapproach. In some cases, storage information 233 may indicate the datafiles are currently bundled with the corresponding VDS 120—this mayallow for the VDS 120 to be transferred to another compute cluster 140without requiring any external connectivity (e.g., to a cloud storageservice.)

Access information 234, in various embodiments, includes informationdescribing who can access data from data representation 210 and whatdata can be accessed. For example, access information 234 might specifythat a user A has access to columns 1-1000 and a user B has access tocolumns 1-2000 of a bitmap index. In some cases, access information 234may simply specify who can access the corresponding data representation210 without limiting the data that can be accessed. For example, accessinformation 234 may specify that users A and B can access thecorresponding data representation 210 while user C cannot.

Fingerprint information 235, in various embodiments, includesinformation that serves as a representation of a VDS 120 that may beused to determine if VDSs 120 are different. In some cases, fingerprintinformation 235 specifies metrics about the data of a datarepresentation 210. Such metrics may include the number of rows andcolumns of the data representation 210 (if a bitmap index is used asindex 210 for example), types of columns (e.g., integer, character,etc.), and the data density of data representation 210. In someembodiments, fingerprint information 235 specifies the mean, median,mode for defined list of columns.

Filter information 236, in various embodiments, includes informationthat identifies a mapping between the data of a VDS 120 and data of thecorresponding origin of data (e.g., an underlying data source 110). Themapping may specify associations between data fields of the VDS 120 anddata fields of the origin. Consider an example in which a data source110 includes fields [A, B, C, D]. Filter information 236 may identify amapping of [A, B, C, D]→[A, B, K, Z], where [A, B, K, Z] are data fieldsin the data representation 210 of the VDS 120. Filter information 236may specify a field name for the VDS 120 that is different from thefield name of the origin—e.g., [D]→[Z]. Filter information 236, invarious embodiments, is usable to filter what data is selected from adata source 110. Continuing with the previous example, filterinformation 236 may identify a mapping of [A, B, C, D]→[A, B, D]. As aresult, the data from the data field [C] of the origin is not includedin the corresponding VDS 120.

Transformation information 237, in various embodiments, includesinformation that identifies a set of transformation to perform on datathat is being ingested from the origin of data (e.g., an underlying datasource 110) into the VDS 120. For example, transformation information237 may specify a transformation from a value of a “birthday date” fieldof a data source 110 to an age value that can be stored in an “age”field of a VDS 120. In various cases, filter information 236 andtransformation information 237 is accessed by an ingestion plugin 224 sothat it can ingest data from a data source 110 into a corresponding VDS120.

Turning now to FIG. 3, a block diagram of an example VDSM 130 is shown.In the illustrated embodiment, VDSM 130 includes a VDSM engine 310 and aVDS registry 320. As further illustrated, VDSM engine 310 includesplugins 224, a VDSM API 311, a user interface engine 312, access controlengine 313, query engine 314, and resource manager 315. In someembodiments, VDSM 130 may be implemented differently than shown. Forexample, VDSM 130 may not include plugins 224.

VDSM engine 310, in various embodiments, includes the executablesoftware routines of VDSM 130 that allow for VDSM 130 to manage one ormore VDSs 120, including creating those VDSs 120 and processing datarequests against them. In some embodiments, the software routines ofVDSM 130 also enable VDSM 130 to manage one or more other VDSMs 130 of ahierarchy of components that include VDSs 120 and VDSMs 130. In someembodiments, the execution of VDSM engine 310 is distributed acrossmultiple computer systems. For example, resource manager 315 may executeon a first node 145 while an API server, which implements VDSM API 311,executes on a second, different node 145.

VDSM API 311, in various embodiments, is an interface that allows forentities (e.g., a user, another VDSM 130, etc.) to access thefunctionality and information of VDSM 130 and its managed VDSs 120. Invarious embodiments, VDSM API 311 supports callable functions thatinclude a create VDS function, a delete VDS function, a list VDSsfunction, a query VDS function, a backup VDS function, and a clone VDSfunction. The create VDS function may be callable to create a VDS 120and may receive, as input, information that identifies an origin of datafor that VDS 120 (e.g., an underlying data source 110) along withparameters (e.g., VDS metadata 230) for configuring an ingestion plugin224 to ingest data from that origin into the data representation 210 ofthe VDS 120. In some cases, the create VDS function may load apreviously created VDS 120 from a storage device into compute cluster140—the create VDS function may receive the unique identifier for thatVDS 120 as an input.

The delete VDS function may be callable to delete a VDS 120 or offloadthe VDS 120 from compute cluster 140 to a storage location—the deleteVDS function may receive, as input, the unique identifier for that VDS120 and an address of a storage location if applicable. The list VDSsfunction may be callable to list the VDSs 120 that are managed by VDSM130 and information about those VDSs 120, such as their VDS metadata230, in some cases. The backup VDS function may be callable to create abackup VDS 120 of a specified VDS 120—the backup VDS 120 may be storedaway. The clone VDS function may be callable to clone a specified VDS120. The query VDS function may be callable to issue a query against oneor more VDSs 120—this function can be implemented by query engine 314 asdiscussed below.

User interface engine 312, in various embodiments, provides userinterfaces that serve as a frontend to VDSM API 311. These userinterfaces may enable a user to select from various options (e.g., viadropdown menus) to configure their VDS environment. As an example, userinterface engine 312 may send user interface information to a computersystem of the user and that computer system may then present a userinterface for creating/adding a VDS 120 based on the user interfaceinformation. The user may select a data source 110 (e.g., from adropdown menu that includes a list of data sources 110), a location atwhich to store data of the VDS 120 (e.g., selected from another dropdownmenu), a data format corresponding to the selected data source 110, etc.The user may further select plugins 224 from a list of plugins 224 to beused in relation to the VDS 120 being created. The information that isprovided by the user via the user interface may be passed to VDSM 130via functions of VDSM API 311 (e.g., the create VDS function). In someembodiments, user interface engine 312 supports command line tools, suchas the Python command line, as a way to interact with VDSM 130 and VDSs120.

In addition to enabling a user or another entity to invoke thefunctionality of VDSs 120 and VDSM 130, user interfaces may presentinformation obtained from VDSs 120 and VDSM 130. For example, if a queryis issued to VDSs 120, the results of that query may be presented to auser via a user interface. As another example, a user may wish to seeanalytical information about their VDS environment. Accordingly, a userinterface may display an amount of storage occupied by a set of VDSs120, an average amount of time that a query takes to execute against theset of VDSs 120, etc.

Access control engine 313, in various embodiments, controls access tothe functionality and data of VDSM 130 and its VDSs 120. In variousembodiments, access control engine 313 maintains a list of users andapproved actions that those users can perform. For example, accesscontrol engine 313 may include an access rule that indicates that user Acan issue queries to a particular VDS 120 for data. That access rule mayfurther indicate that user A can access only a subset of data of thatparticular VDS 120—e.g., user A can access data from columns 1-1000 of abitmap index 210 included in the particular VDS 120. When a request isreceived at VDSM 130 via VDSM API 311, in various embodiments, accesscontrol engine 313 checks the request against the list of users andapproved actions to determine whether to permit the request to beprocessed. If the request is attempting to access data or perform anaction that is not approved, then access control engine 313 may rejectthe request; otherwise, the request may be processed by VDSM 130.

In various embodiments, VDSM 130 maintains a plugin repository thatstores various plugins 224 that may be instantiated by VDSM 130 toperform operations in relation to VDSs 120. As mentioned previously,there are various types of plugins 224 that include, for example, ingestplugins 224, consumption plugins 224, consumption plugins 224,monitoring plugins 224, and security plugins 224. In variousembodiments, VDSM 130 associates a VDS 120 with a set of plugins 224 tobe used with that VDS 120—those plugins 224 might be identified by theuser whose creates that VDS 120. As an example, VDSM 130 may present aplugin store to a user and the user may pick and choose plugins 224 fromthe store to be associated with their VDS 120. VDSM 130 may maintaininformation about how plugins 224 are being used and by what VDSs 120.Two given VDSs 120 may be associated with different sets of plugins 224.In some embodiments, access control engine 313 controls who can accessplugins 224 and the particular plugins 224 that they can access.

Query engine 314, in various embodiments, facilitates the execution ofqueries against the VDSs 120 that are managed by VDSM 130. Query engine314 may receive, from a user or another entity via a query function ofVDSM API 311, a data request that specifies one or more queries to beexecuted against one or more VDSs 120. In some cases, the one or morequeries may be from a query language (e.g., SQL) that is different thanthe query language understood by VDSs 120 (e.g., the Pilosa QueryLanguage). Accordingly, query engine 314 may translate the one or morequeries into the query language that is understood by VDSs 120. Queryengine 314 may further determine which of the VDSs 120 that are managedby VDSM 130 are relevant to the one or more queries. In someembodiments, query engine 314 accesses information from VDS registry 320that identifies the data that is stored at the individual VDSs 120.Based on the data being queried and the data stored at the individualVDSs 120, query engine 314 may determine one or more VDSs 120 thatshould receive the one or more queries. Query engine 314 may then routethe queries to those VDSs 120.

When routing a query to a VDS 120 whose data representation 210 has beensliced and distributed across multiple nodes 145, in variousembodiments, query engine 314 selects one of the nodes 145 as a“representative” node that is responsible for distributing the query tothe remaining nodes 145 and returning a collective result of the VDS120. In some embodiments, nodes 145 elect one of the nodes 145 to be therepresentative node and present this election to query engine 314 sothat query engine 314 can route the query. As such, the portion of a VDS120 running on a given node 145 may include metadata that identifies theother nodes 145 that are running the same VDS 120 and software routinesthat are executable to route, based on that metadata, the query to theappropriate nodes 145. The representative node may receive results backfrom those nodes 145 and may compile those results into a collectiveresult that is returned to query engine 314. In some embodiments, queryengine 314 randomly selects the representative node from the nodes 145that are implementing a particular VDS 120. In yet some embodiments,query engine 314 implements a selection scheme, such as a round robinscheme, or assesses the current workload of the corresponding nodes 145and selects a node 145 that is not overloaded.

Resource manager 315, in various embodiments, allocates and deallocatesresources in order to facilitate the operation of system 100, includingVDSM 130 and VDSs 120. In various embodiments, resource manager 315 issupplied with a pool of resources that can be allocated to implement thevarious functionalities of VDSM 130 and VDSs 120. For example, the poolof resources might include 20 virtual machines that are available onnodes 145. Consequently, resource manager 315 may use one virtualmachine to run an API server that provides VDSM API 311, another virtualmachine to run a web server to implement user interface engine 312,several virtual machines to implement a set of VDSs 120, etc. As anotherexample, the pool of resources may correspond to a cluster managed by anorchestration unit, such as Kubernetes™ or an AWS service. Accordingly,resource manager 315 may interface with the orchestration unit toimplement the various functionalities of VDSM 130 and VDSs 120, whichmay involve providing the orchestration unit with configuration files(e.g., YAML files) that can be used to instantiate those entities.

In various embodiments, resource manager 315 can scale up or down theresources that are provided to a particular entity or service. As anexample, when a VDS 120 is being created, resource manager 315 mayinitially scale up the resources (e.g., nodes 145) that are provided toimplement the ingestion plugin 224 that is consuming data from theunderlying data source 110. After a bulk of the data has been consumed,such that only changes to the data of the data source 110 need to beingested for example, resource manager 315 may scale down/deallocate theresources provided for continuing the implementation of that ingestionplugin 224. As yet another example, if VDSM 130 is receiving a highvolume of queries to be executed against a particular VDS 120, thenresource manager 315 may scale up the resources (e.g., nodes 145) thatare provided to implement that particular VDS 120. Resource manager 315may then scale down the resources provided to that particular VDS 120 asthe volume of queries decreases.

VDS registry 320, in various embodiments, stores information about theVDSs 120 that are managed by VDSM 130. This information may include theVDS metadata 230 from each of those VDSs 120—that is, VDS registry 320may store a copy of the VDS metadata 230 of each VDS 120 managed by VDSM130. As mentioned, query engine 314 may route queries to VDSs 120 thatare identified based on information in VDS registry 320. In particular,in some cases, query engine 314 may access filter information 236 thatis included in the VDS metadata 230 copies. As explained above, filterinformation 236 may identify a mapping between data fields of a VDS 120and data fields of an underlying data source 110. As such, query engine314 may determine which data fields are being accessed by a query andwhich VDSs 120 include those data fields based on filter information236.

Turning now to FIG. 4A, a block diagram of an example ingest plugin 224is shown. In the illustrated embodiment, VDSM 130 receives a VDScreation request 415—the request may be received from a user via VDSMAPI 311 or a user interface that is provided by user interface engine312. VDS creation request 415, in various embodiments, is a request tocreate a VDS 120 from an origin (e.g., an underlying data source 110) orto load a previously created VDS 120 into compute cluster 140.Consequently, VDS creation request 415 may identify a location of theorigin (e.g., a uniform resource location (URL)) and ingest informationfor selecting ingest plugin 224 from a list of ingest plugins andconfiguring ingest plugin 224 to ingest data from the origin. As anexample, if data is being ingested from an Oracle® database, then aningest plugin configured for Oracle® database may be selected from alist of plugins 224. That ingest plugin may be provided with thelocation of the underlying data source 110 (e.g., the URL), the VPNparameters if applicable, and the ingest information (e.g., sourceinformation 232, filter information 236, etc.).

To spawn ingest plugin 224, in various embodiments, resource manager 315determines whether there are sufficient resources (e.g., servers) in thepool of resources to run ingest plugin 224. If there are sufficientresources, then resource manager 315 may allocate a set of resources forrunning ingest plugin 224, and ingest plugin 224 may be instantiated onthose resources. If there are not sufficient resources, however, thenresource manager 315 may wait to instantiate ingest plugin 224 untilthere are sufficient resources. As shown, ingest plugin 224 extractsdata from data source 110 after being spawned by VDSM 130. Whenextracting data, ingest plugin 224 may extract data directly from theunderlying data structure (e.g., a database table) or from a change datacapture feed that identifies changes made to data source 110. Ingestplugin 224 may also look for changes to data in a data source 110 (e.g.,a file system) and propagate those changes into VSD 120.

As depicted, ingest plugin 224 produces ingested data that is providedto VDS 120. In some cases, ingest plugin 224 transforms data from afirst format to a second, different format that permits that data to bestored at VDS 120. Consider an example in which VDS 120 includes abitmap index as a data representation 210 and that the underlying datais being extracted from a database table. Ingest plugin 224 may create abit string having bits that have been set to represent values fromrecords of the database table. The bit string may then be added to thebitmap index of VDS 120. Ingest plugin 224 may continually ingestupdates to data in the data source 110 in order to keep VDS 120 updated.

In various cases, ingest plugin 224 may execute on the same network asthe origin (e.g., an underlying data source 110), but that network maybe a different network than the network associated with VDS 120.Consequently, ingest plugin 224 may abstract (e.g., convert the datainto a bit stream/format) and compress the data that it ingests beforesending that compressed ingested data to VDS 120—this may reduce theamount of network bandwidth consumed in transporting the data. Invarious embodiments, ingest plugin 224 can be stacked with other plugins224 such that the output of ingest plugin 224 serves as the input ofanother plugin 224 (or vice versa). For example, an ingesttransformation plugin 224 may convert user birthdates from a databasetable into age values and ingest plugin 224 may store those age valuesin a bit string format.

Turning now to FIG. 4B, a block diagram of an example consumption plugin224 is shown. Consumption plugin 224, in various embodiments, is a setof software routines executable to perform operations on outgoing datafrom VDS 120. The illustrated embodiment presents an example use case ofa consumption plugin 224 in which VDSM 130 receives a data request425—the request may be received from an entity via VDSM API 311 or auser interface that is provided by user interface engine 312. Instead ofspawning consumption plugin 224 in response to data request 425 asdiscussed below, VDSM 130 may spawn consumption plugin 224 in responseto a trigger event or set intervals of time, for example.

Data request 425, in various embodiments, is a request for particulardata from VDS 120. Data request 425 may specify one or more queries toexecute against VDS 120 and may specify a data format in which to returnthe results from VDS 120 to the requestor. VDSM 130 may select, based onthe format of the queries, a particular consumption plugin from a listof consumption plugins 224 that is capable of converting the one or morequeries of data request 425 from, e.g., SQL into a query formatunderstood by VDS 120 so that those queries can be executed. In somecases, consumption plugin 224 may translate API calls written for, e.g.,Cassandra® or MongoDB® into a query format understood by the VDS 120 sothat those calls can be carried out. VDSM 130 (or consumption plugin224) may route the converted queries to VDS 120. In some cases, aconsumption transformation plugin 224 may receive a query result fromVDS 120 and convert the result into the requested data format beforereturning the formatted query result to VDSM 130. For example, if datais being written from VDS 120 into a relational database, then theconsumption transformation plugin 224 may translate the data into theformat of that relational database.

Another example of a consumption plugin 224 is a plugin that ensuresthat data leaving VDS 120 is compliant with specified policies. Forexample, VDS 120 might be deployed and executing within an EU country.As a result, a consumption plugin 224 may be instantiated that canverify that outgoing data is compliant with the General Data ProtectionRegulation. Another example of a consumption plugin 224 is a plugin thatestablishes a secure connection between the VDS environment and thedestination computer system so that data is secure during transmissionbetween VDS 120 and the destination computer system. Another example ofa consumption plugin 224 is a plugin that replicates changes from oneVDS 120 to another VDS 120. For example, a consumption plugin 224 mayensure that a Europe-based VDS 120 is kept up to date with a US-basedcounterpart VDS 120 by detecting changes to the US-based VDS 120 andpropagating them to the Europe-based VDS 120.

Turning now to FIG. 4C, a block diagram of an example at-rest plugin 224is shown. At-rest plugin 224, in various embodiments, is a set ofsoftware routines that are executable to perform a set of operations ondata while it resides at VDS 120. In the illustrated embodiment, at-restplugin 224 is spawned by VDSM 130. In various cases, VDSM 130 may spawnat-rest plugin 224 in response to receiving a request to perform aparticular task (e.g., from a user that wants to run an analysis on thedata of VDS 120); in yet other cases, VDSM 130 may spawn at-rest plugin224 in response to a trigger event (e.g., an update to VDS 120) or atset intervals of time.

Examples of at-rest plugins 224 include a plugin that generates resultsfrom executing machine learning models based on data in VDS 120, aplugin that generates charts and graphs providing a visualrepresentation of data in VDS 120 (e.g., a chart showing differentincome levels), a plugin that performs a data integrity operation inorder to verify that data included in VDS 120 accurately represents dataincluded in data source 110, etc. As shown, at-rest plugin 224 generatesan at-rest result 435 that is derived from the operations that itperforms on data from VDS 120. That at-rest result 435 can be sent toVDSM 130 or to another component (e.g., a user device). For example, ifat-rest plugins 224 is a plugin that generates charts and graphs, thenat-rest plugins 224 may send information about the charts and graphs toVDSM 130 as at-rest result 435 for generating a user interface topresent the charts and graphs to a user. In some cases, at-rest result435 may be inserted as new data into VDS 120 or used to update dataalready stored in VDS 120. An at-rest transformation plugin 224 may beused to transform at-rest result 435 to a particular format before it isstored in VDS 120. At-rest plugins 224 may further be used, for example,for feature engineering, calculating fields, etc.

Turning now to FIG. 5A, a block diagram of an example implementation ofVDSM 130 and VDSs 120 is shown. In the illustrated embodiment, theexample implementation includes multiple VDSs 120 that are managed byVDSM 130. As shown, data source 110A, which is a platform provided byZenoss®, is an origin of data for VDS 120A, and data source 110B, whichmay be a data lake, is an origin of data for VDS 120B. VDSM 130 mayreceive queries from applications (via APIs or client libraries) fordata stored at the original data sources 110. Instead of executing thequeries against data source 110A and 110B, VDSM 130 may execute thequeries against VDSs 120A and 120B. Accordingly, VDSM 130 may receive aresult from VDSs 120A and 120B and return that result to the requestingprocess. In various cases, due to the structural nature of VDSs,executing the queries against VDSs 120A and 120B can be performed in ashorter amount of time relative to executing the queries against datasources 110A and 110B.

Turning now to FIG. 5B, a block diagram of another exampleimplementation of VDSM 130 and VDSs 120 is shown. In the illustratedembodiment, VDSs 120A-C include data that is representative of datastored at data source 110, which is a SQL database in the illustratedembodiment. As shown, there is a change data capture (CDC) plugin (anexample of an ingest plugin 224) that can ingest data from data source110 and into VDS 120A-C. This may include updates received at the SQLdatabase as part of its ingest pipeline. As further shown, VDSM 130interfaces with an application and/or an AI engine (which may be anexample of a consumption plugin 224) that issues requests for data toVDSM 130. VDSM 130 can execute queries derived from those requestsagainst VDSs 120A-C to generate a result. VDSM 130 may then return thatresult to the application and/or AI engine. When implementing AIroutines, in various cases, VDSs 120A-C are more suitable for theoperations being performed by those AI routines than the SQL databasesince VDSs 120A-C may support a higher speed of iteration and if themodel is embedded, adjacency in the same compute fabric.

Turning now to FIG. 6, a flow diagram of a method 600 is shown. Method600 is one embodiment of a method performed by a computer systemimplementing a virtual data source manager (e.g., a VDSM 130) that iscapable of creating and managing virtual data sources (e.g., VDSs 120).In some cases, method 600 may be performed by executing a set of programinstructions stored on a non-transitory computer-readable medium. Insome embodiments, method 600 includes more or less steps than shown. Forexample, method 600 may include a step in which the VDSM processes arequest for data included in a VDS.

Method 600 begins in step 610 with the VDSM receiving a virtual datasource (VDS) creation request (e.g., a VDS creation request 415) tocreate a particular VDS. The VDS creation request may includeinformation (e.g., VDS metadata 230) that is usable to identify anorigin of the particular VDS and an ingestion routine (e.g., an ingestplugin 224). The information included in the VDS creation request mayidentify a set of data filters usable to select a subset of the datastored at the origin of the particular VDS—e.g., select data from fields“income,” “name,” and “hobbies” of database table “user”. Accordingly,at least one of the data filters may specify a mapping from a data fieldof the origin of the particular VDS to a data field of the particularVDS. In some cases, a first field name may be used for the data field ofthe origin of the particular VDS and a second, different field name isused for the data field of the particular VDS. The information includedin the VDS creation request may identify a set of data transformationusable for transforming data of the origin from a first value (e.g., abirthdate) to a second value (e.g., an age).

In step 620, in response to the VDS creation request, the VDSM uses theingestion routine to create the particular VDS that includes a bitmapindex (e.g., a data representation 210) that is representative of datastored at the origin. In response to a data request (e.g., a datarequest 425) that corresponds to the origin, in various embodiments, theparticular VDS is usable to initiate a query to the particular VDSwithout accessing the origin. In some cases, the origin may be anoriginal data source corresponding to a relational database or anon-relational database. In yet some cases, the origin is a second VDScreated based on data stored at a corresponding original datasource—e.g., topology 150B.

In various cases, the VDSM may receive a particular data request fordata stored in a set of original data sources that correspond to a setof VDSs managed by the VDSM. The set of VDSs includes the particularVDS. Based on the particular data request, the VDSM may determine thatthe bitmap index included in the particular VDS corresponds to theparticular data request. For example, the particular data request mayrequest access to data from a “user” database table stored at the originand the bitmap index included in the particular VDS may storeinformation representative of the data stored in that “user” databasetable. Accordingly, the VDSM may determine that the bitmap index can beused to process the data request. The VDSM may send, to the particularVDS, one or more queries that are based on the particular data request(e.g., the data request may specify the queries) to access the requesteddata without accessing the origin of the particular VDS.

In some embodiments, the VDSM causes a user interface to be displayed toa user via a user device. The user interface may permit the user toinvoke functions included in an API (e.g., VDSM API 311) by selectingone or more options displayed in the user interface. The one or moreoptions may include an option to select a origin from a list of origins(e.g., data sources 110 and VDSs 120) upon which to create a VDS.Accordingly, the information that is included in VDS creation requestmay identify a selection by the user of the origin of the particular VDSfrom the list of origins. The one or more options may also include anoption to select a set of software plugins from a library of softwareplugins (e.g., plugins 224) maintained by the VDSM. A given softwareplugin from the library may be executable to perform a respective set offunctions (e.g., data transformation) in relation to the particular VDS.In some cases, the particular VDS may be associated with a first set ofsoftware plugins that is different than a second set of software pluginsthat is associated with a second particular VDS managed by the VDSM.

In some embodiments, the VDSM manages a pool of resources by allocatingresources (e.g., servers, nodes 145, storage devices, etc.) of the poolto the VDS and one or more services (e.g., VDSM API 311, user interfaceengine 312, etc.) maintained by the computer system. The VDSM mayprovide an application programming interface (API) (e.g., VDSM API 311)that permits an external entity (e.g., an application server) to issuerequests to the VDSM to perform one or more functions (e.g., accessdata) in relation to the VDS. The API may include a delete functioncallable to cause the VDSM to delete a VDS, a list function callable tocause the VDSM to list VDSs managed by the VDSM, and/or a clone functioncallable to cause the VDSM to create a VDS by cloning another VDS. TheVDSM may allocate at least one resource (e.g., a server) from the poolas an API server for implementing the API. In various cases, the VDSMmay allocate at least one resource (e.g., a server) from the pool to acompute cluster for implementing the VDS—the compute cluster mayimplement a plurality of VDSs managed by the VDSM. In some cases, theVDSs may be implemented on a set of virtual machines and the VDSM may beimplemented on a different virtual machine. In various cases, the VDSMmay allocate at least one resource (e.g., a server) from the pool as aweb server for providing user interfaces from a user interface engine ofthe VDSM. In various cases, the VDSM may allocate at least one resource(e.g., a server) from the pool as an ingest server for implementing theingestion routine to create the particular VDS.

Turning now to FIG. 7, a flow diagram of a method 700 is shown. Method700 is one embodiment of a method performed by a computer systemimplementing a virtual data source manager (e.g., a VDSM 130) that iscapable of using virtual data sources (e.g., VDSs 120) to process datarequests (e.g., data requests 425). Method 700 may be performed byexecuting a set of program instructions stored on a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium. In some embodiments, method 700 includes moreor less steps than shown. For example, method 700 may include a step inwhich the VDSM creates a VDS.

Method 700 begins in step 710 with the VDSM maintaining a virtual datasource (VDS) registry (e.g., a VDS registry 320) for a plurality ofvirtual data sources (VDSs). The VDS registry may include, for a givenone of the plurality of VDSs, VDS metadata (e.g., VDS metadata 230) thatis indicative of data represented in a bitmap index (e.g., a datarepresentation 210) included in that given VDS. In step 720, the VDSMreceives a request for information (e.g., data request 425) stored in aset of original data sources (e.g., data sources 110) that correspond tothe plurality of VDSs.

In step 730, the VDSM processes the request against the plurality ofVDSs without accessing the set of original data sources. In step 732, aspart of the processing, the VDSM identifies, based on the VDS metadata,at least one of the plurality of VDSs having a bitmap indexcorresponding to the request (e.g., the VDS metadata indicates that itscorresponding bitmap index stores information for a data field fromwhich data is being requested). In step 734, as part of the processing,the VDSM sends, to the at least one VDS, one or more queries that arebased on the request. Prior to sending the one or more queries, the VDSMmay cause execution of a consumption routine (e.g., a plugin 224) toconvert the one or more queries from a first format corresponding to theset of original data sources to a second, different format correspondingto the at least one VDS. In some cases, the VDSM may determine, whetheran issuer of the request for information is included in a list ofissuers permitted to access information from the at least one VDS. Insome cases, the VDSM may aggregate information returned by at least twodifferent VDSs for the one or more queries to generate a result andreturn the result to the issuer of the request for information.

In various cases, the VDSM may receive a VDS creation request to createa particular VDS. The VDSM may use, in response to the VDS creationrequest, an ingestion routine to create the particular VDS to include abitmap index that is representative of data stored at an origin. TheVDSM may update the VDS registry to include VDS metadata for thatparticular VDS.

Turning now to FIG. 8, a flow diagram of a method 800 is shown. Method800 is one embodiment of a method performed by a computer system tocreate a VDS (e.g., a VDS 120). Method 800 may be performed by executinga set of program instructions stored on a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium. In some embodiments, method 800 may includemore or less steps than shown. For example, method 800 may include astep in which the created VDS is used to process a data request (e.g., adata request 425).

Method 800 begins in step 810 with the computer system creating avirtual data source (VDS) based on a corresponding origin (e.g., a datasource 110). The VDS may include a bitmap index (e.g., a datarepresentation 210) that is representative of data stored at the originand ingestion metadata (e.g., VDS metadata 230) that specifies alocation of the origin and a set of ingest parameters for configuring aningestion routine (e.g., an ingest plugin 224) to ingest data from theorigin into the bitmap index.

In some cases, the origin may be an original data source thatcorresponds to a storage service of a cloud-based platform on a widearea network. The location may correspond to one or more filesmaintained by the storage service. Accordingly, the set of ingestparameters may specify: access credentials that permit the ingestionroutine to access the one or more files; and at least one data format(e.g., JSON) of data objects included in the one or more files to enablethe ingestion routine to parse ones of the data objects. In yet somecases, the origin may be an original data source that corresponds to apipeline of a pipeline-based platform (e.g., Kafka® platform) thatprovides a data stream. As such, the set of ingest parameters mayspecify: a host address corresponding to the pipeline-based platform; apipeline identifier that indicates the pipeline; and at least one dataformat of a set of data objects in the pipeline that enables theingestion routine to parse ones of the set of data objects.

In some cases, the set of ingest parameters may specify a storagelocation at which to store data ingested from the origin for inclusionin the bitmap index The storage location may corresponds to a data storeof a storage service that is provided by a cloud-based platform on awide area network. In various cases, the computer system may store dataingested from the origin for inclusion in the bitmap index at a datastore that is included in a compute cluster (e.g., compute cluster 140)that implements the VDS. The compute cluster may be managed by thecomputer system (e.g., managed by VDSM 130 executing on the computersystem). The set of ingest parameters may specify: a mapping of a set ofdata fields of one or more data objects of the origin to a set of datafields of the bitmap index of the VDS. The set of data fields of the oneor more data objects that is defined in the mapping is a subset of alldata fields of the one or more data objects—e.g., the one or more dataobjects may include four data fields but only two are mapped to thebitmap index. The one or more data objects may include at least onedatabase table. The VDS may be created such that the VDS includes anaccess list that identifies sets of entities and respective sets of datathat can be accessed from the bitmap index by ones of those sets ofentities.

The VDS may be associated with a VDS identifier that enables thecomputer system to identify the VDS separately from other VDSs that aremanaged by the computer system. In some cases, the VDS may includefingerprint information (e.g., fingerprint information 235) indicativeof the VDS and the fingerprint information may specify a number of rowsof the bitmap index, a number of columns of the bitmap index, and a datadensity of the bitmap index.

Turning now to FIG. 9, a flow diagram of a method 900 is shown. Method900 is one embodiment of a method performed by a VDS (e.g., a VDS 120)executing on a computer system to process a data request (e.g., a datarequest 425). Method 900 may be performed by executing a set of programinstructions stored on a non-transitory computer-readable medium. Insome embodiments, method 900 may include more or less steps than shown.For example, method 900 may include a step in which the VDS is created.

Method 900 begins in step 910 with the VDS receiving a data request froma virtual data source manager (VDSM) (e.g., VDSM 130) that manages aplurality of VDSs. The data request may identify one or more queries tobe executed against a bitmap index (e.g., a data representation 210)that is representative of data stored in an origin (e.g., a data source110) of the VDS. The VDS may include a plurality of portions distributedacross nodes of a compute cluster (e.g., VDS 120A distributed acrossnodes 145A-C). In various embodiments, the data request is received by aparticular portion of the plurality of portions that is executing on anode of the compute cluster (e.g., the portion of VDS 120A executing onnode 145A). The particular portion of the VDS may determine ones of thenodes that are executing other ones of the plurality of portions of theVDS (e.g., nodes 145B and 145C). The particular portion may route theone or more queries to those nodes determined to be executing the otherportions of the VDS. The VDS may include ingestion metadata (e.g., VDSmetadata 230) that specifies a location of the origin and a set ofingest parameters for configuring an ingestion routine to ingest datafrom the origin into the bitmap index. The origin may be a second VDScreated based on a corresponding original data source.

In step 920, the VDS returns, to the VDSM, a result of executing the oneor more queries against the bitmap index included in the VDS. In somecases, the particular portion of the VDS may receive a set of queryresults from the other portions of the VDS and may aggregate the set ofquery results into the result returned to the VDSM.

Turning now to FIG. 10, a flow diagram of a method 1000 is shown. Method1000 is one embodiment of a method performed by a VDSM (e.g., a VDSM130) that is executing on a computer system to create a VDS (e.g., a VDS120) with plugin support. Method 1000 may be performed by executing aset of program instructions stored on a non-transitory computer-readablemedium. In some embodiments, method 1000 may include more or less stepsthan shown. For example, method 1000 may include a step in which the VDSused to process a data request (e.g., a data request 425).

Method 1000 begins in step 1010 with the VDSM maintaining a library ofsoftware plugins (e.g., plugins 224) that are executable to performfunctions (e.g., ingest data from a data source 110 into a datarepresentation 210 included in a VDS 120) relating to virtual datasources (VDSs). In step 1020, the VDSM receives a request (e.g., a VDScreation request 415) to create a VDS based on an origin (e.g., a datasource 110).

In step 1030, the VDSM creates, based on the request, a particular VDShaving a bitmap index (e.g., a data representation 210) representativeof data at the origin. In step 1032, as part of the creating, the VDSMreceives plugin information that specifies a set of software pluginsincluded in the library of software plugins. In some cases, the VDSM maycause an interface (e.g., an interface generated by user interfaceengine 312) to be displayed to a user via a user device. The interfacemay present software plugins from the library of software plugins andthe user may select a set of the software plugins to be associated withthe VDS, resulting in the VDSM receiving the plugin information. In step1034, as part of the creating, the VDSM configures the set of softwareplugins to be able to perform functions relating to the particular VDS.Configuring a plugin may include, for example, allocating resources(e.g., processors and memory) to execute the plugin, instantiating theplugin using those resources, configuring network ports to permit theplugin to communicate with a VDS, and/or providing storage to the pluginfor storing results from its execution.

In some cases, the VDSM may receive a request (e.g., a data request 425)for data included in the bitmap index. The request for data may specifyone or more queries (e.g., SQL queries) in a first format. The VDSM mayspawn a consumption software plugin from the set of software plugins toprocess the request for data, including by translating the one or morequeries from the first format to a second, different format (e.g., a VDSquery language) that can be processed against the bitmap index.

In some embodiments, the set of software plugins include an ingestsoftware plugin that is capable of accessing data of the origin andconverting that data from a first format (e.g., data records of adatabase table) used at the origin to a second, different format (e.g.,bit strings for a bitmap index) that permits that data to be stored inthe bitmap index. The ingest software plugin may be capable of accessingdata of the origin by ingesting data from a change data capture feedthat identifies data changes to the origin. In some cases, the ingestsoftware plugin may be capable of accessing data of the origin byidentifying data changes in a file system of the origin and propagatingthe data changes into the bitmap index. The set of software plugins mayinclude a second ingest software plugin that is capable of ingestingingested data into the bitmap index that is produced by the first ingestsoftware plugin—plugins 224 may be stacked such that the output of oneplugin 224 is the input of another plugin 224. In some cases, the originis located externally to the particular VDS (e.g., the origin is a cloudplatform operated by a third party). The VDSM may cause the ingestsoftware plugin to be executed on a computer system of a local-areanetwork that includes the origin (e.g., executed on the cloud platform).The ingest software plugin may compress data ingested from the originbefore sending that ingested data from the local-area network thatincludes the origin (e.g., the cloud platform) to a different local-areanetwork that includes the particular VDS (e.g., another cloud platform).In some cases, the set of software plugins may include a transformationsoftware plugin that is capable of performing a set of transformationson values of one or more data fields of the origin to generate valuesfor a particular data field of the bitmap index that is not included inthe data at the origin.

Turning now to FIG. 11, a flow diagram of a method 1100 is shown. Method1100 is one embodiment of a method performed by a VDSM (e.g., a VDSM130) that is executing on a computer system to manage a VDS (e.g., a VDS120) using a set of software plugins (e.g., plugins 224). Method 1100may be performed by executing a set of program instructions stored on anon-transitory computer-readable medium. In some embodiments, method1100 may include more or less steps than shown. For example, method 1100may include a step in which the VDS used to process a data request(e.g., a data request 425).

Method 1100 begins in step 1110 with the VDSM maintaining a set ofsoftware plugins in association with a virtual data source (VDS). Onesof the set of software plugins may be executable to performcorresponding functions (e.g., access prevention, monitoring, datatransformation, data encryption, etc.) in relation to the VDS. In somecases, a second VDS managed by the VDSM may be associated with a secondset of software plugins that is different than the set of softwareplugins associated with the VDS. In some cases, the VDS may be createdbased on a second origin. The origin and the second origin may bedifferent types of data sources. For example, the origin may be anotherVDS and the second origin may be an original data source thatcorresponds to a relational database.

In step 1120, the VDSM manages the VDS using the set of softwareplugins. In step 1122, as part of the managing, the VDSM receives arequest (e.g., a data request 425) for data that is stored at an origin(e.g., a data source 110). The VDS may include a bitmap index (e.g., adata representation 210) representative of the data stored at theorigin. In step 1124, as part of the managing, the VDSM spawns aconsumption software plugin from the set of software plugins to processthe request for data. The consumption software plugin may translate oneor more queries included in the request from a first format to a second,different format that can be processed against the bitmap index of theVDS.

In some cases, the set of software plugins may include a secondconsumption software plugin that may perform a data integrity operationto verify that data included in the bitmap index is representative ofdata included in the origin. In some cases, the set of software pluginsmay include a second consumption software plugin that is capable ofexecuting one or more machine learning models against data included inthe bitmap index. In some cases, the set of software plugins may includea security software plugin that is capable of establishing a secureconnection for sending data from the VDS to an endpoint system. In somecases, the set of software plugins may include a security softwareplugin that is capable of preventing accesses of data included in thebitmap index are not compliant with a specified set of securitypolicies. In some cases, the set of software plugins may include amonitoring software plugin that is capable of collecting a set ofmetrics pertaining to an operation of the VDS. In some cases, the set ofsoftware plugins may include a consumption software plugin that iscapable of operating on data being sent from the VDS to a destinationentity. The destination entity may be another particular VDS that islocated in a different geographic region than the particular VDS. Theconsumption software plugin may be capable of detecting changes to theVDS and propagating the changes to the other VDS.

Exemplary Computer System

Turning now to FIG. 12, a block diagram of an exemplary computer system1200, which may implement system 100, compute cluster 140, and/or a node145, is depicted. Computer system 1200 includes a processor subsystem1280 that is coupled to a system memory 1220 and I/O interfaces(s) 1240via an interconnect 1260 (e.g., a system bus). I/O interface(s) 1240 iscoupled to one or more I/O devices 1250. Computer system 1200 may be anyof various types of devices, including, but not limited to, a serversystem, personal computer system, desktop computer, laptop or notebookcomputer, mainframe computer system, tablet computer, handheld computer,workstation, network computer, a consumer device such as a mobile phone,music player, or personal data assistant (PDA). Although a singlecomputer system 1200 is shown in FIG. 12 for convenience, system 1200may also be implemented as two or more computer systems operatingtogether.

Processor subsystem 1280 may include one or more processors orprocessing units. In various embodiments of computer system 1200,multiple instances of processor subsystem 1280 may be coupled tointerconnect 1260. In various embodiments, processor subsystem 1280 (oreach processor unit within 1280) may contain a cache or other form ofon-board memory.

System memory 1220 is usable store program instructions executable byprocessor subsystem 1280 to cause system 1200 perform various operationsdescribed herein. System memory 1220 may be implemented using differentphysical memory media, such as hard disk storage, floppy disk storage,removable disk storage, flash memory, random access memory (RAM—SRAM,EDO RAM, SDRAM, DDR SDRAM, RAMBUS RAM, etc.), read only memory (PROM,EEPROM, etc.), and so on. Memory in computer system 1200 is not limitedto primary storage such as memory 1220. Rather, computer system 1200 mayalso include other forms of storage such as cache memory in processorsubsystem 1280 and secondary storage on I/O Devices 1250 (e.g., a harddrive, storage array, etc.). In some embodiments, these other forms ofstorage may also store program instructions executable by processorsubsystem 1280. In some embodiments, program instructions that whenexecuted implement a data source 110, a VDS 120, and VDSM 130 may beincluded/stored within system memory 1220.

I/O interfaces 1240 may be any of various types of interfaces configuredto couple to and communicate with other devices, according to variousembodiments. In one embodiment, I/O interface 1240 is a bridge chip(e.g., Southbridge) from a front-side to one or more back-side buses.I/O interfaces 1240 may be coupled to one or more I/O devices 1250 viaone or more corresponding buses or other interfaces. Examples of I/Odevices 1250 include storage devices (hard drive, optical drive,removable flash drive, storage array, SAN, or their associatedcontroller), network interface devices (e.g., to a local or wide-areanetwork), or other devices (e.g., graphics, user interface devices,etc.). In one embodiment, computer system 1200 is coupled to a networkvia a network interface device 1250 (e.g., configured to communicateover WiFi, Bluetooth, Ethernet, etc.).

Although specific embodiments have been described above, theseembodiments are not intended to limit the scope of the presentdisclosure, even where only a single embodiment is described withrespect to a particular feature. Examples of features provided in thedisclosure are intended to be illustrative rather than restrictiveunless stated otherwise. The above description is intended to cover suchalternatives, modifications, and equivalents as would be apparent to aperson skilled in the art having the benefit of this disclosure.

The scope of the present disclosure includes any feature or combinationof features disclosed herein (either explicitly or implicitly), or anygeneralization thereof, whether or not it mitigates any or all of theproblems addressed herein. Accordingly, new claims may be formulatedduring prosecution of this application (or an application claimingpriority thereto) to any such combination of features. In particular,with reference to the appended claims, features from dependent claimsmay be combined with those of the independent claims and features fromrespective independent claims may be combined in any appropriate mannerand not merely in the specific combinations enumerated in the appendedclaims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: maintaining, by a virtualdata source manager (VDSM) that is executing on a computer system, alibrary of software plugins that are executable to perform functionsrelating to virtual data sources (VDSs); receiving, by the VDSM, arequest to create a VDS based on an origin; and creating, by the VDSMbased on the request, a particular VDS having a bitmap indexrepresentative of data at the origin, wherein the creating includes:receiving plugin information that specifies a set of software pluginsincluded in the library of software plugins; configuring the set ofsoftware plugins to be able to perform functions relating to theparticular VDS; receiving, by the VDSM, a request for data included inthe bitmap index, wherein the request for data specifies one or morequeries in a first format; and spawning, by the VDSM, a consumptionsoftware plugin from the set of software plugins to process the requestfor data, wherein the consumption software plugin is capable oftranslating the one or more queries from the first format to a second,different format that can be processed against the bitmap index.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the set of software plugins includes aningest software plugin that is capable of accessing data of the originand converting that data from a first format used at the origin to asecond, different format that permits that data to be stored in thebitmap index.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the ingest softwareplugin is capable of accessing data of the origin by ingesting data froma change data capture feed that identifies data changes to the origin.4. The method of claim 2, wherein the ingest software plugin is capableof accessing data of the origin by identifying data changes in a filesystem of the origin and propagating the data changes into the bitmapindex.
 5. The method of claim 2, wherein the set of software pluginsincludes a second ingest software plugin that is capable of ingestingingested data into the bitmap index that is produced by the ingestsoftware plugin.
 6. The method of claim 2, wherein the origin is locatedexternally to the particular VDS, and wherein the creating includes:causing, by the VDSM, the ingest software plugin to be executed on acomputer system of a local-area network that includes the origin.
 7. Themethod of claim 6, wherein the ingest software plugin is capable ofcompressing data ingested from the origin before sending that ingesteddata from the local-area network that includes the origin to a differentlocal-area network that includes the particular VDS.
 8. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the set of software plugins includes a transformationsoftware plugin that is capable of performing a set of transformationson values of one or more data fields of the origin to generate valuesfor a particular data field of the bitmap index that is not included inthe data at the origin.
 9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:causing, by the VDSM, an interface to be displayed to a user via a userdevice, wherein the interface presents software plugins from the libraryof software plugins, and wherein the plugin information corresponds to aselection of the set of software plugins by the user via the interface.10. A non-transitory computer readable medium having programinstructions stored thereon that are executable to cause a computersystem to implement a virtual data source manager (VDSM) capable ofperforming operations comprising: maintaining a library of softwareplugins that are executable to perform functions relating to virtualdata sources (VDSs); receiving a request to create a VDS based on anorigin; creating, based on the request, a particular VDS having a bitmapindex representative of data at the origin, wherein the creatingincludes: receiving plugin information that specifies a set of softwareplugins included in the library of software plugins; and configuring theset of software plugins to be able to perform functions relating to theparticular VDS; receiving a request for data included in the bitmapindex, wherein the request for data specifies one or more queries in afirst format; and spawning a consumption software plugin from the set ofsoftware plugins to process the request for data, wherein theconsumption software plugin is capable of translating the one or morequeries from the first format to a second, different format that can beprocessed against the bitmap index.
 11. The medium of claim 10, whereinthe operations further comprise: spawning a consumption software pluginincluded in the set of software plugins that is capable of performing aset of data transformations on data being sent from the particular VDSto a destination entity.
 12. A system, comprising: at least oneprocessor; and memory having program instructions stored thereon thatare executable by the at least one processor to cause the system toperform operations comprising: maintaining a library of software pluginsthat are executable to perform functions relating to virtual datasources (VDSs); receiving a request to create a VDS based on an origin;creating, based on the request, a particular VDS having a bitmap indexrepresentative of data at the origin, wherein the creating includes:receiving plugin information that specifies a set of software pluginsincluded in the library of software plugins; and configuring the set ofsoftware plugins to be able to perform functions relating to theparticular VDS; and receiving a request for data included in the bitmapindex, wherein the request for data specifies one or more queries in afirst format; and spawning a consumption software plugin from the set ofsoftware plugins to process the request for data, wherein theconsumption software plugin is capable of translating the one or morequeries from the first format to a second, different format that can beprocessed against the bitmap index.
 13. The system of claim 12, whereinthe set of software plugins includes a second consumption softwareplugin that is capable of performing a data integrity operation toverify that data included in the bitmap index is representative of dataincluded in the origin.
 14. The system of claim 12, wherein the set ofsoftware plugins includes a second consumption software plugin that iscapable of executing one or more machine learning models against dataincluded in the bitmap index.
 15. The system of claim 12, wherein theset of software plugins includes a security software plugin that iscapable of establishing a secure connection for sending data from theparticular VDS to an endpoint system.
 16. The system of claim 12,wherein the set of software plugins includes a security software pluginthat is capable of preventing accesses of data included in the bitmapindex are not compliant with a specified set of security policies. 17.The system of claim 12, wherein the set of software plugins includes amonitoring software plugin that is capable of collecting a set ofmetrics pertaining to an operation of the particular VDS.
 18. The systemof claim 12, wherein a second VDS managed by the system is associatedwith a second set of software plugins that is different than the set ofsoftware plugins associated with the particular VDS.